One of the best parts about living in Monterey, California is how dog friendly the area is. Most of the businesses on the peninsula allow well-behaved dogs, there is a long walking and biking trail that runs along the coast, plenty of hiking in the hills and parks, and beaches that allow dogs to run free. Within hours of adopting Calvin, we were cruising these dog friendly places in an effort to socialize the four-month old puppy.
Down the street from our apartment was Fieldwork Brewing, and there were few better places to take Calvin to meet people and other dogs. We would walk down to the brewery, grab a flight of beers, and sit next to one of the fire pits at the open-air beer garden. People would eagerly ask to pet, scratch, and general fawn over Calvin. He loved it.
In fact, he loved it so much he would often try to pull us into Fieldwork every time we walked past it, right up until we left Monterey in December. From Fieldwork, we could continue walking and pass several bars, wineries, and even a running shop where we could bring the dogs, and we often did. Our daily routine included walking the dogs, sometimes for over six miles from our apartment, down to Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove and back on the walking trail along the coast.
While we loved walking along the coast on the trail, lounging in bars, and perusing shops with Calvin and Zander, where they most liked to be was at the beach. Carmel Beach in Carmel, California allows dogs to run free of leashes, and every time we went there we encountered many other dogs for Calvin and Zander to play with. Even if the other dogs weren’t interested in playing with our dogs, they would run around and chase each other.
Zander is long, lean, and incredibly fast. He often runs up to other dogs and, in a bid to get them to chase him, sticks his butt in their face before taking off at a dead sprint. Some dogs chase him, most know they are beat before the impromptu race even begins. After we got Calvin, he tried to keep up with his more nimble brother, but Zander was always too fast.
On one of the first trips we made to Carmel Beach, Zander made a friend, a red-hued shepherd mix that was ready and willing to run, chase, and wrestle in the sand. It was all Calvin could do to try to keep up with his barrel chest and shorter legs. The three of them raced over the beach, kicking up a flurry of sand with every footstep, occasionally becoming ensnared in a canine ball of fur, playful growls, and whirling sand.
As Zander and his new shepherd mix friend went sprinting to the far end of the beach, they leapt over a series of tide-pools. As young as Calvin was, he had no context for what the tide-pools were, and probably regarded them as shallow puddles. Zander, with his experience and agility, jumped over them. Calvin, with his youth and lack of agility, plowed straight into them.
It was quite the sight to watch Calvin run straight into the tide-pool. It must have been at least a couple feet deep, because as soon as the little boxer-mix puppy splashed into the pool, he disappeared under the shallow, murky water.
Within a moment, Calvin sputtered back to the surface, and took off after Zander and the shepherd mix, no worse for wear.
Throughout our time in California, Calvin and Zander developed a love for beaches and running free over the sand and into the shallows. If we would let them, they would run on the beach from sunrise to sunset, and then come back and do it all over again the next day.
As Calvin grew he started to develop his own tactics for catching the elusive Zander. It appeared his favorite method was to hang just behind Zander until Zander turned to see where Calvin was, at which point Calvin would give it a final burst of speed and launch himself into Zander while he was in the middle of turning. It wasn’t always successful, but it was always funny to see the look of surprise on Zander’s face when his dense, younger follower would body slam him unexpectedly.
Dog friendly beaches and bars are a great way to socialize a young puppy, and I was very lucky to be able to bring Calvin with me pretty much anywhere while I was in Monterey. As Calvin grew up alongside Zander, the two of them became well bonded, and now it is hard to separate the two.
We moved away from California, almost as far as you can go without leaving the U.S., to a house with a yard and new jobs. The boys chase each other all over the yard, and while it is great, it isn’t quite as good as a free-ranging beach. I heard there’s one close by, perhaps we will give it a shot when the weather warms up.